


The curse of being special

by icecreamsuki



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2020-01-24 15:53:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18574690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icecreamsuki/pseuds/icecreamsuki
Summary: Nino was tasked to interview someone whose seizures were triggered by a certain voice.





	The curse of being special

**Author's Note:**

> There are, in fact, rare cases of seizures being triggered by certain voices.

"We found a teenage boy whose seizures are triggered by a certain voice," one of the staff said.

They were filming for Chiccha na Yabou segment of Arashi ni Shiyagare. The content was just being introduced to Nino and he thought they were trying to pull his leg at the outset.

"Eh? Is there something like that? That's a joke, right?" Nino said, trying to gauge the reaction of the staff. 

"It's true! We have invited this boy's mother to the set," the staff said as the door opened revealing a woman in her late forties wearing a pair of eyeglasses. 

Nino immediately stood up to greet the guest before he motioned for her to take a seat beside him.

"So I have been told that your son has voice-triggered seizures," Nino said after the usual introductions. The woman simply nodded solemnly.

"May I know whose voice...?" Nino said.

"Arashi's..." the woman began.

"Eh?!"

"Ninomiya-san," she said.

"EHH?! Me?" Nino asked, startled. He momentarily looked at the staff for confirmation. "How did you find out?" Nino asked quietly, somewhat guilty of the strange turn of events. He didn't want to believe completely though, so he was secretly searching for hidden cameras around.

"Seven years ago, I had an Arashi concert DVD played in our living room. And then I heard my eldest daughter screaming after witnessing her younger brother having seizures. We immediately brought him to the hospital then. Blood tests and brain imaging were done but they were all normal at that time. The doctors couldn't pinpoint the exact cause of his seizures so he advised us to just observe in the meantime if it will happen again." 

Nino listened attentively, immensely curious as to how the story would progress. He may have played a role as a doctor before, but he really didn't know much about diseases, of course.

"Five years ago, it happened again. I left him in the living room watching television before I left to buy some groceries. When I returned, he was complaining of headache and stomachache," the mother said, apparently upset of reliving that memory. "And then I saw him have a seizure right before my eyes."

Nino almost didn't want to speak any longer out of fear and guilt. He simply urged the mother to continue her story using his eyes and facial expressions.

"That same year, it happened again while he was watching TV at night. Same symptoms - headache, stomachache. Luckily, the seizures lasted for only about 10 seconds. He was confused right after, but after minutes of rest, he was back to normal. I remember I turned the TV off right away during that time," the mother said.

"So there was a common denominator - an Arashi DVD for 1 episode and an ongoing television show for 2 episodes of seizure." Nino pondered on the mother's story, feeling heavy and bothered. "You can easily avoid our regular variety shows because of the fixed schedule, but we have commercials that may be shown on TV at any random time."

"We always have our TV on mute," she replied.

Nino's face fell. It was a really serious matter - a teenager not being able to watch TV leisurely for fear that it may do harm to his life. Was this really for a Shiyagare segment? It was too heavy, in Nino's opinion.

"How were the doctors able to pinpoint the exact trigger?" Nino asked. How were they able to pinpoint that it was my voice?

"I saw him watching an Arashi commercial once, with the TV on mute and it didn't have an effect on him. I mentioned this to the doctors, and they said that maybe it wasn't really the visual stimulation but rather the auditory stimulation that triggers the seizure. Systematic testing was done using each of the member's voices," the mother said solemnly.

"And they were able to identify my voice as the trigger," Nino finished.

She nodded. "My daughter is an Arashi fan and she makes it a point to wear earphones at home."

"You can control what's going on inside your home, but how about in school? What if one of his classmates suddenly played an Arashi song out loud?" Nino asked. The gravity of the situation just got heavier as he realized the impact of his voice to the boy.

"We organized a meeting with the homeroom adviser, the school principal, along with the doctors, and came up with solutions. In the end, having Arashi songs played out loud was banned inside the school grounds," she said.

"Oh," Nino said tersely. He was worried for the boy. Wouldn't these kinds of things cause him to be treated as an outcast? Was there bullying? To have a school-wide policy change on your behalf - if it were Nino on the boy's shoes, it would make him feel bothered and guilty. And indeed, bothered and guilty was what Nino was feeling then since he was the root cause of the problem, however unintentional. In a way, he somewhat robbed the boy of his youth.

"Are we really going to use this for Shiyagare? Maybe we should donate this video to 24 hour TV instead," Nino said to the cameraman to try to lighten the atmosphere.

After biting his lower lip in deep thought, Nino turned to face the mother and said determinedly, "I'd like to meet your son, if that's okay."

She was somehow taken aback - Nino wasn't quite sure if it was by the suddenness of the request, or by his determination. He knew that the mother alone wasn't in the position to decide. There was still the possibility that the boy himself might not agree, or that the doctors wouldn't allow it. Still, Nino's decision remained.

"Alright. Actually, I have already consulted my son and the doctors, and they have already given a go-signal," she said calmly.

"Oh. When can we do it?" Nino asked.

"We can go there tomorrow," she said.

-=- 

Along the way, she told Nino in more detail about the tests that the doctors did to diagnose him, how they tried different medications until they reached his present meds which he had been taking for a year with no complications or significant side effects.

She told him about her son’s interests which were video games and baseball incidentally, and that he was currently studying for college entrance exams.

"Is it alright if we disturb him for a while?" Nino asked.

"He's expecting it," she replied as they were getting off their vehicle, having reached their destination.

Nino asked for a notepad and a pen, since that was how he was planning to communicate with. He settled down in the living room as the mother fetched her son.

He was 18 years old, around 2 inches taller than Nino, his fringe partly covering his eyes. 

They bowed at each other, Nino deeper and longer out of apology. Nino quickly placed a hand over his mouth to remind himself to not make a sound, as well as to muffle any sound that he might inadvertently let out. 

He gestured for them both to sit on the carpet on the floor of the sofa to make themselves comfortable. Nino quickly wrote something on the notepad.

"Konnichiwa. I'm Ninomiya Kazunari."

"Konnichiwa. I'm Kinoshita Tatsuya."

"How would you like me to call you?"

"You can call me Tatsu."

"You can call me Nino."

Nino took a good look at Tatsuya while the latter was writing. His skin was fair like Nino - a classic characteristic of a hikikomori who just stayed at home. The bangs covering his eyes was a sign of lack of self-confidence somehow. He seemed like a serious boy, not showing a hint of a smile, which could be due to a stranger sudden pushing his presence to him, or because that stranger happened to be someone who had been causing him years of hardships.

"I heard you like baseball," Nino wrote in the hopes that talking about Tatsuya's interest would help him open up.

"I stopped since high school," Tatsuya wrote briefly. Nino didn't have the heart to ask why. The situation at home and at school could be controlled no matter how drastic the measures were, but the time spent in the outside world was substantial as well. Circumstances must have pushed him to be cooped up at home.

"What games do you usually play?" Nino wrote, diverting the topic.

"Final Fantasy. Zelda. Puzzles and dragons." Tatsuya wrote.  
"You know, you don't actually have to write everything down too. I won't get seizures from hearing your voice," Nino said chuckling – shoulders moving in a chuckle anyway but hands muffling any sound.

"Oh, that's right, huh?" Tatsuya said, laughing at his mistake. He had a deep voice, Nino noticed - deeper than any of the Arashi members. 

"You have a really deep and clean voice. You know, our J had a high-pitched girly voice when he was young. I remember I used to wonder how a girl got accepted to Johnny's. It's amazing what puberty can do, huh?"

Tatsuya stared at the notepad with a soft smile on his face. After a while, he directed his smile at Nino, "I actually like Arashi."

Nino was stunned. How could someone who was banned from watching or listening to any Arashi-related material end up liking them? Nino wanted to ask that, but he was somehow at a loss for words. Luckily, Tatsuya was able to beat him to it.

"I read magazine interviews and transcripts of what happened to your shows. My sister makes it a point to update me regularly. She's a huge fan," he informed Nino happily.

"I can ask the members for a signature for both of you, whoever your favorites are," Nino wrote, eager to do something for the people he has inadvertently caused trouble to.

"What makes you think that our favorite is not you?" Tatsuya asked cheekily.

Nino looked at him dumbly. If he could speak, he would have said a loud "EHHH?"

Nino quickly gathered up his bearings and tore 2 sheets from the notepad to sign each of them. "I would ask the other members for a signature too since you're just teasing me," Nino wrote as well.

"Thank you," Tatsuya said in his same deep voice, staring in appreciation at Nino's signature as he picked up the sheet of paper.

"How about trying to be a voice actor? You have a distinct deep and clean voice perfect for a male lead," Nino wrote, looking at Tatsuya excitedly.

"Well, I haven't really thought of that," Tatsuya replied.

"Just an idea," Nino wrote, then shrugged.

One of the staff signaled to Nino that it was time to wrap up the filming. Tatsuya noticed this as well and he smiled warmly at Nino.

"I have a present for you," Nino wrote, bringing out a small box and gestured for Tatsuya to open it.

As Tatsuya was opening the box, Nino wrote, "It's just some fashionable ear plugs. If you ever go outside and an Arashi song started to play, you can quickly put this on."

Its style was that the 2 ear plugs were connected by a cord so it can be dangled along the nape for easier access - like earphones. Tatsuya tried it on, and the sound was indeed blocked.

"This is great! Thank you!" Tatsuya said, carefully placing it back to the box.

Nino absentmindedly watched Tatsuya's movements, still mulling over what he could do for him.

"Please don't be guilty," Tatsuya said suddenly, as if reading Nino's feelings. "I'm not blaming you for anything."

"Thank you. That's really kind of you," Nino wrote quickly, his fingers catching up to his surge of emotions.

"I will still continue supporting Arashi no matter what," Tatsuya said firmly. His fringe was no longer covering his eyes - revealing his face, baring his sincerity.

Nino also removed the hand that was covering his face and mouthed "A-ri-ga-to-u!" He then bowed deeply after.

-=-  
“It’s rare for Nino to be serious in this segment, ne?” Aiba commented after the video clip ended.

“Like I said, this would have been better for a 24-hour TV segment. We should have donated the clip. It’s in the same TV channel anyway,” Nino said, making himself comfortable on his seat.

“I didn’t know that people can have seizures from a voice,” Matsujun said, wonderingly.

“It’s really rare, though, right?” Ohno said.

“And out of the billions of people in the world, it happened to be Nino’s voice,” Sho said.

“Yeah, it’s one of those times I wish I wasn’t so special,” Nino said. He somehow still had difficulty bringing out his snarky side because of the weight of the situation.

“But it’s amazing that he still likes Arashi despite that,” Aiba commented.

“Yes, such resilience,” Sho said.

“Did you bribe him so it would seem like you’re his favorite?” Matsujun teased to lighten up the atmosphere.  
“Oi!” Nino said, somehow thankful for the jab thrown. “Anyway, remind me to get your signatures later.” 

They simply nodded in reply. 

-=-

After the filming ended and they were on their way back to the greenroom, Nino felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Ohno. And it was firm and reassuring – as if the warmth of the other was being transferred to Nino’s person. Ohno, who barely said anything during filming, was just the calm and steady presence Nino was needing at that moment. 

“You better not use that smudging ink like you did last time, old man.”


End file.
